Game 1, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: A logical game from both sides. Rybka equalized in the opening, but at the cost of allowing a queen trade and a symmetrical pawn structure. Benjamin made a few more tiny concessions to further simplify the position (20. c4) and a win to start the match didn't appear to be far away for him, but in fact the endgame was not routine and he was not able to defend it.

Game 2, Benjamin - Rybka 1-0: Another logical game from both sides, very similar to the first game. Rybka again equalized in the opening, but at exactly the same price - a trade of queens and a symmetrical pawn structure. Benjamin again made a few more tiny concessions to further simplify the position (19. Rad1) and stood nominally worse, but this time the endgame proved to be rather simple and white never really had to sweat.

After two games, the main pattern is already clear. Rybka has a fairly strong disincentive to trade pieces, strong enough to cost her around 40 Elo in self-play, but Benjamin is willing to go to greater length to force trades than Rybka is to avoid them. This is in fact quite logical, as his heuristics about this topic are better than Rybka's. I can't seriously fault Rybka's play at any point so far, although Larry and I did make one adjustment and a different version will play starting in game 3.

Game 3, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: Benjamin accepted complications with 11. Nb5, sacrificing a pawn on the queenside to gain the initiative. The position was quite sharp and rather computer-friendly and after a series of very non-obvious inaccuracies, white's position crumbled.

Game 4, Benjamin - Rybka 1-0: The themes from games 1 and 2 returned. The queens were traded and the position was closed quite early. The Rybka version which plays in this match is averse to both, but Benjamin was again willing to go to greater lengths to achieve these aims than Rybka was to avoid them. There was still plenty of play in the resulting position, but Benjamin was able to defuse it completely by sacrificing a piece for two pawns and achieving a fortress. Rybka (mis)evaluates that position as a full pawn better for herself.

Game 5, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: Benjamin again made opening concessions in order to lock the position, but this time he lost his grip. Rybka cracked things open with 12. .. b3 (which must have come as a surprise) and 14. .. f5, with a strong initiative for black. The resulting position is nearly impossible for a human to defend.

Game 6, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: The openings are proving critical in this match, and this time Benjamin lost the battle quite early. He achieved a symmetrical pawn structure, but at the cost of the bishop pair, and black was able to get active play on the queenside. The resulting position is a nightmare for a human to try to deal with without computer assistance.

Game 7, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: On move 12, Benjamin was faced with the typical dilemna for this type of match: play a solid anti-computer move, or play a good natural chess move. This time, he chose the latter and forged ahead with 12. g4. He kept the balance until move 26, when his 26. Qd2 appears to be a very complex error. The resulting position is difficult for white objectively and hopeless for a human against a computer.

Game 8, Benjamin - Rybka 0-1: The opening variation was again a bit too open and unbalanced to give the human his best chances. It seems that 20. Qd2 and 21. a3 are both inaccurate due to the surprising shot 21. .. d5, which turns the game in black's favor.

Interesting game; I really don't like 20.c4 here--it seems to open things up in black's favor. 37.Rf2 looks like a blunder? (I don't see anything wrong with 37.Rc3, but then again, I'm at a location right now without access to my access to my engine, but it looks like after this white can just play Kc1-c2-c1 etc. and if black moves the rook over then white pushes the e-pawn to complete the protection of everything and the blockade...)

I think Rf2 is OK (for activity), but the idea of cutting off the f-file might have been too dominant in the human mind - maybe 40 Rc8 rather than 40 Ke2, though R+P endgames can be tricky. After 37 Rc3 Kf5 38 Kc2 Ke4, Black then attacks g3 (possibly with Rf8-f3) and should win (with the RPP vs R tablebase at least). Maybe 37 Rc3 Kf5 38 Rd3, activating the rook again.

Actually I addressed that problem today just by raising contempt from 50 to 60. Overnight Vas made a change to try to avoid pawn symmetry. I doubt it will help much though as this is usually determined in the opening book phase.

It is perhaps an interesting question as to whether Rybka gains anything from using more than, say, 30 seconds on any given move - particularly with the expected(?) tactics-delimited positions tending to demand knowledge more than search and/or the opponent likely to be in (relative) time trouble.

There are a few odd technical things on the beginning of the Rybkachess page.

First, the times are in 24-hour time, which does not go with "a.m." or "p.m.", and yet a.m. is used for all of them, which is funny for the p.m. afternoon games. Second, according to the page, Joel will be playing games 7 and 8 at the same time. Will the same computer be doing this, too? :-)

You can actually use it when using Chess Assistant, for some reasons the client (it's nearly the same as you can download) starts there.Anyway, I also would like to see a version for Linux, the latest version doesn't start here, too (but the old one works).

I take it you run it through Wine? If so, what version of wine and chessplanet? I have Ubuntu Dapper installed on my machine, and therefore a somewhat outdated version of wine. Looks like there's newer versions of wine for dapper on their homepage, I'll might try them.

Did you successfully install chessplanet with wine, or do you run an installation done in windows?

I use the build in version in Chess Assistant 9, the standard .exe doesn't install here, too. Maybe it works if I install it under Windows, the last time I tried that this didn't work.Btw., always when engine evaluations are posted, the program freezes and the "clipboard" button is blinking... :(

This is what I like a lot about the Chess Planet broadcasts. In the latest version of the client you get live analysis of the position with different engines so you see their evaluation at all times -- and you can play through each of the PVs on the board.

Actually, I can't follow the live games at all, don't know what is wrong.

The link http://www.chessok.com/broadcast/live.html doesn't work at all, neither with Firefox or IE. And when trying to login in to the chess server via Chess Assistant I get "Connection refused by remote host". Isn't it via 81.176.67.146:8470?

Well, thus far we have 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.0-0 d5 6.e5 Nd7 7.Bb5 Qb6 8.Qa4 Be7, with Rybka Update Anti-human giving -0.24. Spike 1.2 Turin, which I've had playing with these positions all day, is giving -0.30. Looks good for another Rybka win with that pawn looking funny on e5, as long as Rybka doesn't allow the position to get locked up. Rybka's 8...Be7 was a novelty, with 8...c4 being previously played for a black win in Kopmann-Volke 1998.

As for that link, it works for me, but causes all other programs to be screwed up on my computer--I can't type anything for very long without keystrokes going to the main menus, and maddeningly occasionally causing programs to shut down.

No page or any other problems? Java scripts should be enabled to view the page.

As for client, possibly you need to register (it takes 30 seconds and no need in real e-mail address) to enter server. Due overloading server serves guests with the lowest priority. Anyway tomorrow the problem will be researched.

Is there any way to make sure that it doesn't screw up the other programs running on my computer? Half the time I try typing something, it instead gives commands to the menus and windows and such, which is extremely maddening.

Mozilla Firefox is my browser; in particular, it is difficult to type this message--much of the time I pause, and then can't type in the window anymore unless I click in the window again. I had to do that five times (make that seven) just in typing this message.

I heard one user say that on an old computer the Javascript slowed his computer down. Perhaps you are experiencing the same problem. Maybe there should be a checkbox (and an "Update" button) for those users who want a manual update of the position.

Well, I put IE on lowest security and privacy and Firefox has Javascripts enabled.Selecting the link in firefox timeouts to a blank page where I can do "view source" and it seems to include a bunch of javascripts.

In IE I get error, website cannot be shown.

Regarding Chess Assistant club I have manged to log in before.I choose "Enter as guest" it takes quite a long while with the UI freezing and I finally get the "Connetion refused...".When I choose register or an old account (which might have incorrect password) the same happens.

I also tried with "connect using HTTP" with same result. And the "help" button says no help available.

Otherwise my computer is working fine. I prefer you to Chessbase but it all gives a bad impression including the clumpsy timeout/wait handling...